Real Madrid’s 5-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana final has sparked more debate about the future of their coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Despite the talk among pundits and the club’s supporters, several sources at the club — speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships — were surprised and uncomfortable that the Italian’s position was even a topic of conversation.
One senior source argued that a team cannot always play well or win, adding, “Marks are given in the spring,” suggesting now is too early in the season to be judging Ancelotti.
With equal firmness, the same sources played down what influence losing so heavily to their rivals might have on Madrid’s approach to the January transfer window. They insisted that Madrid work to a plan and do not react to specific defeats or criticism.
So that’s good and bad news for Ancelotti: his job seems secure but he won’t be getting major reinforcements during this transfer window. The only outlier would be if Liverpool were to agree to sell Trent Alexander-Arnold in the coming weeks.
The concerns about Madrid’s defence were laid bare in the team’s performance in Jeddah. They were in disarray as Lamine Yamal and Raphinha caused havoc, helping Barcelona recover from Kylian Mbappe’s early goal to go in 4-1 up at half-time.
“I said it before the game: ‘We have to defend well to win this game’,” Ancelotti pointed out after the match. “We defended badly and Barcelona defended better and won.”
When Mbappe put Madrid ahead after five minutes — his third goal in three finals (UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup and Supercopa de Espana) — few would have imagined they could finish the game on the wrong end of that kind of scoreline.
From that point on, it was a nightmare for Madrid, and that was reflected in the face of club president Florentino Perez when the television cameras panned to him in the stands on a number of occasions.
Some, inside and outside the club, think Perez should have done more to strengthen Madrid’s defence in the summer.
However, it is Ancelotti bearing the brunt of the criticism now and his team have suffered two humbling defeats to their arch-rivals this season, having lost 4-0 at home in La Liga back in October.
Sunday’s match was reminiscent of the 2023 Supercopa de Espana final, nearly two years ago to the day, when Madrid were swept aside by Barcelona and their consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat was scored by Karim Benzema in the final minute of stoppage time.
In Jeddah, Madrid could have gone behind twice before Mbappe made it 1-0 in the fifth minute. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made two early saves, first from Yamal and then keeping out a header by Raphina after the Brazilian was left free by Aurelien Tchouameni (a central midfielder playing at centre-back) and the stumbling Lucas Vazquez.
Ancelotti’s side began to fall away in the 21st minute, picked apart by the amazing Yamal. The 17-year-old raced on to a pass from Robert Lewandowski after Antonio Rudiger was caught high up the pitch. Ferland Mendy was no match for Yamal in a race and he burst towards the Madrid box, sold Tchouameni with a drop of the shoulder and then rolled a shot past Courtois into the bottom right corner.
Then Barcelona went ahead from the spot after a clumsy challenge by Eduardo Camavinga on Gavi. Lewandowski scored the penalty and the faces of the Madrid players told the story. They were worried.
In the 39th minute, Raphinha added a third, slipping between Tchouameni and Vazquez yet again to meet a cross with his head. This time, Courtois was no match for it and the ball found the bottom left corner of the net.
Then late in first-half stoppage time, Alejandro Balde made it 4-1 as Barcelona pounced on sloppy play from Rodrygo. The left-back combined neatly with Raphinha on the counter, sliding the ball beyond Courtois.
Madrid went in at the break having had 34 per cent possession and having allowed Barcelona 13 shots at goal, seven of them on target — the most in a first half against Madrid in the last 11 seasons, according to Opta.
Three minutes into the second half, it was the same story: Madrid experiencing more trouble down their right-hand side with Vazquez and Tchouameni. With Vazquez still in an attacking position, Tchouameni wasn’t fast enough to cover the right-back area and was toyed with by Raphinha, who also outwitted Rudiger by cutting onto his left foot and then shooting into the far corner.
(Mohammed Saad/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Lucas (Vazquez) and Tchouameni’s performances? I don’t have to name anyone. I’m talking about the team,” said Ancelotti when asked about the pair.
Minutes after Barcelona’s fifth goal, Ancelotti withdrew Vazquez for Raul Asencio, the academy centre-back who some argue should be used more by Ancelotti after some strong games last year. Federico Valverde took Vazquez’s position and captain’s armband. The coach, despite always trying to avoid it, switched his most important midfielder to right-back, as he had towards the end of 2024 when Madrid were dealing with injuries.
And this is why Madrid want Alexander-Arnold, with one source from their Valdebebas HQ telling The Athletic: “Without a right-back, it is impossible to win the Champions League.”
With Asencio on, Tchouameni moved back into midfield, but he had little impact in his favoured position and it was not long before he was replaced by Luka Modric. Some in the dressing room have lost confidence in the France international, while others point out that he is often playing in an unfamiliar position.
Tchouameni has had to fill in at centre-back this season (Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Madrid clearly have issues in defence, both short and long term, and many players have been linked with them in recent months. One is the Al Nassr and Spain centre-back Aymeric Laporte, who watched the game at the stadium in Jeddah, but a move for him was understood to be financially difficult. Another is Vitor Reis, the 19-year-old Brazilian centre-back at Palmeiras who is of interest to Manchester City, but there are some doubts at Madrid about his ability to defend out wide and Palmeiras have insisted Reis could only leave after this summer’s Club World Cup.
Despite Ancelotti insisting internally that reinforcements are needed, the club is measured in spending on transfers and does not believe in making big moves in the January market. In press conferences in recent weeks, Ancelotti has not closed the door on arrivals this month, when in the past he has been more aligned with the club.
Important people at Madrid have agreed with him that a right-back and centre-back must be signed, either now or in the summer, but the fact that others are on the same page as him does not mean that the club will go out and spend — as their quietness in this window shows.
When the final whistle blew, it was clear Madrid did not want to stay in the stadium a minute longer than they had to while their rivals celebrated a big win. Perez, in a rare exchange caught on camera, turned to his captain Modric and said: “We have to lose a final some time, don’t we?”
Madrid will return from Saudi Arabia worried by a brutal defeat at the hands of Barcelona but the alarm bells are not going off just yet. Before this game, they had won seven and drawn once in their previous eight matches in all competitions.
After being thumped in the Clasico in October, there were disappointing results against Milan, Liverpool and Athletic Club. They will hope for a sharper reaction this time, starting in the Copa del Rey on Thursday against Celta Vigo.
(Top photo: Ismael Adnan Yaqoob/Anadolu via Getty Images)
